30 Day Writing Challenge - Day 1

Prompt- Five problems with social media

1. Comparison, comparison, comparison 

We fight for likes, retweets, comments, and favorites. The push of a button determines our worth. I see a girl post a selfie on Instagram and I envy her lips, her makeup, her slim figure, her tan. I see a status on Facebook, a courageous one. Am I doing enough big things? What accomplishments can I share? 

2. Stolen Time

I check my phone before I sit down to do my homework. I refresh Facebook, I reload Twitter, I close and reopen Snapchat, I tap on Instagram. Within 30 minutes, at 3am, activity has gone down. I checked my phone 20 minutes ago, and 20 minutes before that, and now I should be in bed. My eyesight belongs to the screen.

3. Disappointment 

I proclaim myself the ultimate stalker. You can ask me questions about someone and I will take to social media and do my absolute best to answer your questions. So if you ask me if you think that guy is talking to that girl, I'll find her pictures, with his comments and likes on each one. Yes, I will answer, after further investigation. After further investigating I've become an advocate of disappointment, which I take to social media to actively find. 

4. Envy 

If a child were to ask me if you can still participate in show and tell as an adult, I'd answer yes, with a frown. Social media is show and tell for adults. Sitting in fourth grade, staring at someone's pet turtle or new Barbie doll has evolved into the new overpriced car someone has been gifted, or even financed themselves. And, sure, several of these shared posts are meant to be defined by the happiness of the consumer, the person sharing it. But, you cannot deny envy, as much as you try to fight it. And envy turns into misery. Social media cooks up a fine dish of envy and resentment. 

5. Materialism 

This could serve under the problem of envy, but I feel as if it also deserves its own category. I cannot explain how often I see brand names on social media. The memes of the girls in a full Nike workout, while I barely afford my gym membership. The Nike shoes, the Adidas headbands, the Louis Vuitton handbags, the Chanel earrings, MAC makeup, Beats headphones, and then yes, ask me if I own some of these brands, and I'll unfortunately reply with a yes. I own them because society has constructed a false mindset that I have absorbed that these brands are a necessity and not a desire. That these brands advertised by social media will soon consume us. We will be known by them, and they will no longer be known by us. 

Some questions to consider: 

1) As a woman, I have no idea what issues social media may provide solely to men. What are some problems with social media and masculinity? 

2) How do we turn social media into a positive, more so than a negative?